wiredinUSA September 2014

Fiber optic cable in Ethiopia

Possible renewal of European tariffs

The Finland-based intranet solutions provider Eltel has signed amajor contract with China’s Huawei Technologies for a project in Ethiopia. According to Eltel, the contract includes the installation of approximately 1,600km of optical groundwire (OPGW) on existing power transmission lines. The work will be carried out on live line conditions for the first time in the country. The venture, part of a larger national grid development and improvement project, is expected to be complete by the end of 2015. It is expected that the new OPGW will: “Enhance the utility’s internal communication capabilities, and it will also provide a high quality backbone for third party users.”

The European Union may renew its tariffs on Chinese wire rod for another five years, to curb competition for EU producers. The EU is considering whether to re-impose the duties, up to 24 percent, on wire rod imports from China. The levies punish Chinese exporters for having, allegedly, sold wire rod in Europe at below cost. The official journal of the European commission reports that the inquiry will determine ”the likelihood of a continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury” to the EU industry. The anti-dumping duties were due to lapse in late August, but will now stay in place during the investigation, which could take up to 15 months. The trade protection was introduced in 2009, after China increased its share of the EU wire rod market to five percent in the 12 months to March 2008, from 0.3 percent in 2004. The probe into whether to renew the levies stems from a request by the European steel industry group Eurofer, on behalf of the producers of over a quarter of EU wire rod output.

wiredInUSA - September 2014

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